Well Sunday I finally got to take my Z Roadster out for autocross... Was cold and crappy outside but it was still worth it. It started to snow before my 3rd run so I had to take the camera off and put my top up. But I got all the rest on video with the top down.

I'm pretty happy with how my Z performed... only problems I had was a bit of understeer from my 245/18 275/18 staggered whee/tire setup and the auto gearbox not letting my downshift into 1st gear unless below 30 MPH. So I think I need some wider tires up front, and need to see if there is a hacked ECU avail that lets you shift into 1st when its still in its power band because thats really annoying.

My first and last runs I got a little drifting going on which was fun. I know it hurts your time but I don't care, I had fun doing it and thats what i'm there for. My second to last run was the fastest and yes, had the least amount of drift in it, lol. Times ranged from high 38 to a 40 because I bumped a cone on the first slalom.

I placed 2nd place of 33 in my class (novice of course) with a best time of 38.908. The best was a 350Z coupe with 37.837. Following me was two RX-7's, a Porsche 911, and so on... Overall I got 39 of 88th but just about everyone above me was modded. Not bad i'd say, but I just need to smooth it out a bit and I can get better times i'm sure.

I feel the brakes and power may be lacking a bit so my next mod might be that OE big brake front rotors and then I might start doing power mods, but we'll see...

Anyway I have all the videos on my website which are 640x360 16:9 video in DivX 5.0.2 codec, and also I uploaded the entire set on Streetfire and Youtube. Take a look and tell me what you all think...

http://www.megabytemike.com/auto-x/2008.04.20/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_di4_PHiQI
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/A...ter_158174.htm

 

awesome runs, watched 3 of them. good job

 

Congrats, sounds like our event yesterday as well (sunny, windy, and snow).

Run on the street tires for a while. You'll find that you won't have as much understeer if you don't overdrive the corner entry. Also, don't "add" more steering if you're already understeering -- it just makes things worse.

Do NOT mod your car if you're serious about autocross! The 350Z is competitive in B Stock (BS), has to compete against unlimited turbo-boost STIs and Evos in B Street Prepared, and Street Modified 2 is the "cubic dollars" class. You could do well locally -- unless you happen to have a national-level competitor who runs in class (although most of them are very helpful to other competitors).

You shouldn't have to downshift to first unless the course has a pin turn, and even then the Z can get moving from almost a dead stop in 2nd gear -- anything above about 2500 RPM provides *plenty* of torque! I didn't see any places where you would have really needed first gear.

 

SM2 is the suck
You just made me realize, I haven't made a video yet. Will get on that next month.

As far as the vid goes, I'm at work so can't see it now.

 

FWIW, I go to 2nd in the 1st 50' of a course unless it is very tight. I watched your videos and I would have been in 2nd the whole course.

I see Glenn has posted some advice and I agree. If your street tires are screaming then ease out of the throttle a bit and straighten the steering to let the tires go back to gripping. You will turn quicker.

My advice for new autocrossers is to "mod the driver before you mod the car". In the beginning it's attractive but you get a lot more for your money by getting driving instruction or frequently running events and asking questions. If you decided to change cars you get to take your skills with you.

Most performance driving classes will cover the basics of the traction circle, driving basics... and many clubs offer instructional events for new people. At our event Sunday we had instructors for the novices to ride-a-long and give advice.

Welcome to the addiction!

 

Thanks for the replies guys... as I said i'm just in it for the fun, not so much the competetive nature. I'm really trying to get a drifting club started here in my state because thats what I really enjoy. We have a good dozen people interested but still not enough to get anything serious started.

I know how to deal with understeer, had a FWD before this that was pretty bad before I upgraded the suspension. I wanted 1st gear in those tighter corners so I could drift out of them for fun. I think if I can get this paddleshift mod James is working on on this board that'd help a bit.

I'm pretty good at getting my car right to the limit, unfortunately I get kind of worked up and don't relax and concentrate enough when I actually start my run.

Anyway I had a lot of fun and thats what I went there for! Hope the vids are somewhat entertaining, they turned out pretty well I think.

 

Hey great job on the vids man!
The crackling in the microphone is a little annoying, but...it's a Roadster, I understand the wind challenges.

Speaking of which, I'm curious as to the camera/mount setup you went with - seems like good overall stability for recording...

 

I never would have guessed. J/K

I was going to say your aggression level and car control skills looks pretty good, but you seem to be in the same boat I was in. (and sometimes relapse into )

Your confidence in your ability to control the car when things get a little too hot, combined with your (otherwise healthy) driving aggression, leads to overdriving. (And costs time) I know what it looks like from a lot of first-hand experience.


Congrats. Glad you liked it.

 

Yeah the wind is really bad... i'm thinking of getting an external microphone and putting it on the seat or something where wind wont attack it.

The camera mount, I think is a bit too shaky but it did alright for $60. I've had it for a couple years, did the same thing when I auto-x'd my Tiburon. You can buy them at www.stickypod.com I believe.




The camera is a Canon PowerShot S1 IS i've had for over 4 years now, records good quality 640x480 video and great pictures. I've definatly got my moneys worth from this camera. Hoping soon to upgrade to a full HD 1080p camcorder, but they are pretty spendy. This works wellf or now.





Now com'on Z1NONLY I didn't drift that much... just a little here and there. Granted I was purposely trying to get the tail to step out, which is why I wanted damn first gear! Never had that problem with my 6 speed Tiburon, but i'll figure something out with the Z.

I definately need to calm down a little and smooth out my movements. Being smooth gets you better times, i've seen it hundreds of times and managed to do it myself a few times, lol. But its not nearly as much fun...

 

Gregom, congrats on your first autocross with the ZR!!

The autotrans can be a bit of a pain until you figure it out. My experience with it during autoX is to shift a little early from 1st to 2nd so as to avoid that "lag" you get near redline.

Also, I agree with the other guys on this forum...2nd gear should get you through most autoX courses. As far as I know there is not an "electronic" fix for the lag you get when downshifting early, although its my understanding that Cobb Engineering is working on it

Stillen does offer a valve body upgrade kit that they say will allow you to up and downshift at will. It's pricey....about $1k!

 

nice driving man!

i wanted to check your car out but you left right after your last run! boo! i was the one in the red z.

as the other guys said, although i have a 6mt, 2nd gear right after the launch all the way through. even when i'm in 2nd i was still driving like i was at a drift event, except for the last run or so.

what mods do you have?

mine are:
K&N drop-in air filter
5/16" plenum spacer
took the casting marks out of the lower collector
metallic high flow catalytic converters
tires & wheels: 255/35/19 285/35/19 bf goodrich kdw2's 300 treadwear 19x9.5 +17 19x10.5 +18 volk gt-s'

they are kicking me out of novice and now i have to run bsp (w/ the black sti and others)

overall i had 29th and beat a z06 too! woot!

i think i would've had a 36.xxx but after the second straight section i came in to hot and had to almost stop to miss the cones and maybe an off-course but still ran an 38.5

 

Holy crap its you!!! I didn't know you were on this forum... awesome. I enjoyed watching you while I was working. That was a really fun course I gotta say from Sunday. Sorry I didn't stick around, it was cold and I only got 3 hours of sleep and just wanted to get the hell out and go home, lol. I'll see you next time around though hopefully.

I really wish I could of found a manual roadster, but the auto 5 speed does have taller gears so my 1st goes up to almost 40. I was trying to get into 1st around that first almost 180 degree turn to drift out, and managed to most of the time...

I have no mods right now, just the wheels/tires. I figured you were modded by the sound. We definately need to meet up somewhere and talk, maybe do a few runs. I'd like to see the speed difference in a straight line. Honestly mine feels kinda slow and I want to do power mods at some point.

I'm definately gonna try to make it to all these events I can this year... last year it wasn't as exciting with a FWD Tiburon. Hope to see you at the next one (I think its May 18th) at the Idaho Center in Nampa.

BWT you check our SRR SCCA forums? Chris got a pic of you... I think he has more, hoping he got one of me drifting, lol.

 

I'll have to research this valve body upgrade, if it works really well... it would be worth $1K if you ask me.

 

check out http://www.idahomotorsports.com/forum/cmps_index.php

there are a bunch of pics in the multimedia section

definately down to meet up

pm me and i'll give you my number

 

Get a dedicated set of wheels and tires if you plan to autox often.

 

Save your money on brake upgrades and power mods and work on your inputs and the way you are handling the steering wheel.

 

great stuff man. i wanna get into it around here badly, i need to practice though.